Apparatus to produce fresh water from ocean water



March 20, 1951 w. A. E. HULT 2,546,071

APPARATUS T0 PRODUCE FRESH WA TER FROM OCEAN WATER Filed Oct. 1, 194aMLM/Y 45 E. HUI. T

Attarney Patented Mar. 20, 1951 STATES PATENT OFFICE arraaarusro raonuonFRESH WATER FROM-O'CEAN wA rER William A. E. Hult, SanD'iegufCalil.

Application October 1, 1948, Serial No. 52,333

Claims. 1

The present invention relates to process for producing fresh water fromocean water.

It is-an object of the present invention to provide a process wherebythe composition of ocean water may be easily andcheaply changed to waterfit'for irrigation purposes or for the recovery of nitrates therefrom byevaporation.

-A further object of the invention is the :provision of a process of'thecharacter set form which will provide a source of fresh water for useother than for household and drinking purposes during emergency watershortages.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a process of thecharacter set forth which will provide a resultant water containingchemicals adapted to enrich soil when used to irrigate the same.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a process of thecharacter set forth which, when used in conjunction with theconventional evaporation methods, may be used to produce commercialnitrates in solid form.

A further object of the invention is the provision of suitable apparatusfor accomplishing the above-mentioned objects.

Other and further objects of the invention will become apparent from areading of the following specification taken in conjunction with thedrawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of one form of plant which may beutilized to carry out the invention,

Figure 2 is a plan view of Figure 1,

Figure 3 is a fra men ary ele ational view, partly broken away,illustrating a sluice pipe utilized in carrying out the invention, and

Figure 4 is a fragmentary sectional View illustrating certain details ofthe aforesaid sluice pipe.

Generally there is provided a process for changing the composition ofsea water to water fit for irrigation purposes and, in fact, alldomestic purposes with the exception of household and drinking purposesand which consists essentially in the regulated admixture of commercialsilver nitrate with sea water in an agitator, passing the same through arifle barrel type sluice pipe torecover therein the resultantprecipitate of silver chloride, a settling tank for receiving thethustreated water now lacking in chlorine solutes but containing sodiumnitrates and thence dispensing the resultant water, which has furtherprecipitated its silver chloride in the settling tank toevaporaticnponds for the extracting of commercial nitrates or immediate disposal asirrigation water. .Anlimportant step in "the .proc- 'ess is the recoveryof the precipitate .s'ilver chloride from t'he sluice pipe and thesettling tank. This precipitate may be refined and, in large scaleoperations might be enhanced in value by the recovery therefrom ofprecious metals contained in sea water.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, there is shown therein aliquid dispenser Zllll .in the upper end of which is mounted an invertedcarboy II. The lower end of the dispenser is connected with the upperend of an agitator l2 by means of a pipe l3 having a valve l4 therein.The agitator has mounted therein a vertically extending shaft l5provided with a pulley I6 and a plurality of agitator blades ll. Thepulley is connected by means of a belt l8 to a suitable source of power.

The lower end of the agitator tank I2 is provided with a downwardlydirected sluice pipe I9 terminating in a spout 2B which is located inthe upper end of a settling tank 2|. The tank 2| is rovided with anoverflow pipe 22. e

The sluice pine I9 is of the rifle barrel type in that it is providedwith an inwardly directed spiral ridge 23 having a series oflongitudinally extending corrugations 24 between each successiveconvolution of the ridge 23.

In carrying out the process of the present invention, a carboy ll ofsilver nitrate is inverted and placed in the upper end of the dispenserH} from which the same is dispensed in controlled amount by means of thevalve It to the agitator tank H which is constantly supplied. with seawater. This mixture is agitated and further admixed by the motion of theblades [1. The resultant mixture then passes by gravity through thesluice pipe l9 and silver chloride is precipitated upon the interior ofthe sluice pipe. The precipitation is greatly aided by the ridge 23 andthe corrugations 2 which cause the mixture passing from the agitatortank to pass in a circuitous path along the interior thereof. The

" sluice pipe l9 may be removed from time to time for cleaning and forthe recovery of the silver chloride which may thereafter be dried andrefined. The liquid passing into the settling tank 2| will furtherprecipitate silver chloride to the bottom of the settlingtank and thisprecipitate may also be recovered from time to time. The resultant freshwater will pass from the overflow pipe 22 for direct disposal asirrigation water or may be directed to evaporation ponds for the Thechemical equation involved may be represented as follows:

AgNOa+NaCl=AgCl+NaNOa In addition to the above reaction with the addedcommercial silver nitrate there will be also the following reaction:

shown and described herein, it will be readily apparent to those skilledin the art that many minor modifications may be made without departingfrom the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In an apparatus for the production of fresh water from sea waterincluding a dispenser for a nitrate adapted to chemically interchangeits metal with the sodium of the sea water, a mechanical mixing tank, avalved pipe interconnecting the dispenser and the mixing tank, and asettling tank, of a rifle barrel sluice extending downwardly and at anangle from the mixing tank to the settling tank, said sluice havingformed on its inner walls a continuous spiral ridge and a plurality oflongitudinally extending corrugations between each of the successiveconvolutions of the ridge.

2. A sluice for assisting chemical precipitation comprising an elongatedcylindrical body, a continuous spiral ridge formed on the inner wall ofthe body, and a plurality of longitudinally extending corrugationsbetween each of the successive convolutions of said ridge.

WILLIAM A. E. HULT.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 807,807 Broman Dec. 19, 19051,265,898 Figg May 14, 1918 1,915,240 Putnam June 20, 1933 2,190,596Dorr Feb. 13, 1940 2,252,045 Spanner Aug. 12, 1941 2,322,689 Goetz June22, 1943

1. IN AN APPARATUS FOR THE PRODUCTION OF FRESH WATER FROM SEA WATERINCLUDING A DISPENSER FOR A NITRATE ADAPTED TO CHEMICALLY INTERCHANGEITS METAL WITH THE SODIUM OF THE SEA WATER, A MECHANICAL MIXING TANK, AVALVED PIPE INTERCONNECTING THE DISPENSER AND THE MIXING TANK, AND ASETTLING TANK, OF A RIFLE BARREL SLUICE EXTENDING DOWNWARDLY AND AT ANANGLE FROM THE MIXING TANK TO THE SETTLING TANK, SAID SLUICE HAVINGFORMED ON ITS INNER WALLS A CONTINUOUS SPIRAL RIDGE AND A PLURALITY OFLONGITUDINALLY EXTENDING CORRUGATIONS BETWEEN EACH OF THE SUCCESSIVECONVOLUTIONS OF THE RIDGE.